On My Way
by btvs
Summary: Based on the song 'On My Way' by Boyce Avenue. Robert must choose to save either Tom or Bates when they are both sentenced to death. One-shot!


Inspired by the beautiful song 'on my way' by Boyce Avenue who I was lucky enough to see live this week

www. Youtube watch?v=g6PY4YELLEA

_**And for now**_

_**We'll wait until the morning light**___

_**And close our eyes to see**___

_**Just close your eyes to see**_

They were finally free, after weeks of running, weeks of hiding, they were safe. Like all those years ago when Tom had said 'I will welcome them with open arms...' The Crawley family had surprised their youngest daughter and her husband by receiving them warmly, partly because of the growing bump forming that didn't go unnoticed.

Staying in her childhood bedroom Sybil felt conflicted. They missed they're 'home' the place they had built for themselves, the restraints of Downton trapping them into a different scene of society, but she knew the consequences, the mistakes Tom had made that had led them here. It was here together, or at home alone...

As she rose from the comfort of her husband's arms she wandered towards the window, imagining the scene she so missed, even the smog that encompassed the skies of Dublin. Her husband's arms around her now diminished the thought , whilst soft kisses surrounded her jaw, neck and cheeks then eventually her lips.

All was halted by the sound of the engines, the coal motors arriving on the gravel, coming to take her husband away...

_**I Wasn't there the moment you first learned to breath**_

_**But I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**_

_**I wasn't there the moment you got off your knees**_

_**But I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**_

Staring at the harsh metal cell before him, Tom cursed to himself. He knew he was on borrowed time; everything was turning out just a little too perfect in his life.

He has a decent job which he enjoyed, a baby on the way and the most beautiful woman in his world had agreed to spend her life with him, something had to go wrong eventually. ...

The story had circulated at work, a traitor to his country. He had married the English girl, and not just an English girl but the daughter of a Lord.

It was only a matter of time before someone did something drastic.

They'd left the gun in his desk, the finger prints wiped clean, the evidence a little too obvious but enough to put him down for life.

So they'd run, back to the safety of Downton, back to what they knew.

He's been here for three weeks and only seen her once, he told her to stay away, he didn't want to bring on the birth too early but today his heart ached and as he sat with his head in his hands he heard her voice.

The guards pushing her back saying prison was no place for a baby as the small boy screamed in his mother's arms. Tom's first look at his offspring was through a round window barely big enough to get sunlight.

He had a son.

_**A tear must have formed in my eye**___

_**When you had your first kiss**___

_**But I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**___

_**So leave a space deep inside for everything I'll miss**_

_**Cause I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**_

It was the toughest decision he'd ever had to make.

A man of position like Robert Crawley could use certain advantages, could use certain rights as a Lord. He was not above the law but he knew people who could make things work for him. In one room was his daughter and his grandchild, he was angry at her, angry for everything she'd done but seeing her with Sean he remembered that moment 20 years when he'd first seen her face, first seen her breathe.

In the other room was another wife, another prison widow. Anna Bates had worked for the Crawleys for more than a decade and now he had to destroy her world.

The judge had granted one dismissal, one man to be let free. They would cover it up as a fair trial if Robert donated to the local court house and everything would be conveniently covered up for a small fee.

_... But only one man could live. _

Was he really giving away the life of his friend, comrade and confidant for someone he despised?

Of course he was, he had to, he had no other choice.

He was the father of his first grandchild and husband to his daughter and the consequences weighed in his favor but deep down Robert felt resentment, pain for the loss of his friend and now he had to walk into the library to tell Anna that he was the reason her husband would die.

_**And when you feel no saving grace**_

_**Well I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**___

_**And when you're bound to second place**___

_**Well I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**___

_**So don't believe it's all in vain**_

_**Cause I'm on my way**_

_**On my way**___

12pm: One man dies whilst another walks free.

It happens every day but not to them.

Her clogs pushed into the gravel determined to quicken her pace to the car, quicken the reunion with her husband. Time slowed down as Anna rushed past her, sobs escaped her as she ran for the door. Anna's white apron mirrored the gleaming white of Sybil's gown. Both women in the same shoes but like everything else around them, the poor would suffer, the rich would thrive.

Of course, Sybil was the exception, she married for love, it wasn't Tom's fault but nothing she would ever do would bring back Anna's husband.

He stepped out, her white dress the first thing he saw, then the boy in her arms. He ran forward cradling them both.

'This is your son' she announced, his small hands reaching for his father's face.

'_I'm here' he reassured. 'Daddy's here'_

_**The light at the end is worth the pain**_

_**Cause I'm on my way**_

_**On my way**__**  
**__**I'll be there the morning you come out in white**___

_**Cause I'm on my way**___

_**On my way**__****_


End file.
